Wednesday, October 09, 2013

Carol Marbin Miller: The Herald Reporter I Least Envy.

Carol Marbin Miller writes all those horrific stories on children being abused. She wrote one today about a starved to death 12 year old girl.

I try to read Miller's stories but they are so sad and painful, I can never get through them. I think she has the hardest job at the Miami Herald and I salute her. I could never report on such abuse. She is doing a terrific job for these children lost in the child care system: she gives them a voice and Miller has become a catalyst for change.

Miami Herald reporter Carol Marbin Miller has been recognized for her work using public records to expose neglect and failure within Florida’s social services.

Marbin Miller was awarded the 2012 Eugene S. Pulliam First Amendment Award, which recognizes a person or organization that has fought for First Amendment rights.

Since joining The Miami Herald in 2000, Marbin Miller’s reporting has uncovered abuses of power by those whose victims were among the state’s most vulnerable children.

Her work includes the disappearance of foster child Rilya Wilson; the violent death of 14-year-old Martin Lee Anderson at a Panhandle boot camp; how a ruptured appendix killed 17-year-old Omar Paisley because his pleas of pain at a juvenile detention center went ignored; and the warning signs that child welfare investigators missed before 10-year-old Nubia Barahona was killed by her adopted parents.

Recently, she was on The Herald team that crafted the series Neglected to Death, which showed the state was failing to close the state’s worst assisted-living facilities, despite scores of people dying from abuse and neglect.

Her work has resulted in the passage of multiple state laws, the closure of several youth boot camps and, after the death of Paisley, about 25 state officials lost their jobs, including the then-secretary of the Department of Juvenile Justice.

We thank God that we have her. She is a frontline warrior in the fight to protect children. People have to focus on one or two things and try to make a difference in those areas. There are so many issues and problems that need addressing, and so few dedicated people like her to lead the charge. We thank her for doing the heavy-lifting and protecting the innocent ones, as a community we owe her. . .

Quote hall of fame - worth another look:

Complete this sentence: South Florida really needs a..."Regional plan for controlled growth (before it becomes a concrete jungle similar to Houston), and a completely new set of elected officials that make decisions based on what's good for the future of South Florida instead of what's good for their wallets.